NEWS: Boy Suspended After Talking To Mom In Iraq During Lunch Break

Grady, calls home from Iraq are rare! Also, one never knows when the opportunity willl arise, there can be no arrangement made. They are and I know it.


Geez. the only thing that matters in the world to this boy is that he spoke with his mom. I can't imagine what this has done to her morale.

So, apparently this type of exchange is ok:

Teacher: Hey, no phones are allowed in school.
Student: [Expletive deleted] you! I'm [Expletive deleted] talking to my [Expletive deleted] Mom in Iraq!
Teacher: Did you say Iraq?
Student: [Expletive deleted] yeah!
Teacher: Oh, ok. Carry on.
Student: [Expletive deleted] you!

Regardless of whether you think soldiers children are above the rules, children must learn that bad behavior isn't rewarded, no matter what the circumstances are.

Curme, you know for a fac t this is how it went down?

Gosh Curme, are you a teacher? Would you not have some compasion in this situtaion?

*whipers in anticiapation of the answer*

[edit on 5/7/2005 by Relentless]

didn't he go postal after she went and physically took and closed his phone?
correct me if I'm wrong please, but that was the general agreement of the argument, both the teacher and the child agree that things went worse when the phone was taken from him PHYSICALLY i might add. Personally I would have most likely composed myself after the initial burst of anger from somebody physically taking away MY phone and closing such a crucial communication, but I would not expect or berate somebody else for not doing so, at least he didn't slug her which I could see myself doing he she would have kept an antagonistic and authorities tone throughout the exchange, especially after giving the basics of just where the mother was and for how long. Her being a woman would have matter very little to me compare to the real possibility of not know if I would be able to talk to a loved one EVER again.

I know a few people over in Iraq and granted communication is lot better than back in the "'nam" days it's still not as frequent that one would just hang up because it's not a convenient time. My cousin was on a carrier and just came back in the last week or so from Iraq, he was able to call about once and month maybe 2 times, although he was cutting some procedures such frequent communications. I know another guy who is a convoy gunner and he's able to call maybe 2 times every 3 months on average. He's able to email weekly when he has the time and energy to. It's a harsh job and you have to take some of your downtime after a hard day's work to write. There are plenty of risk and "terrorist" attacks that go on inside Iraqis that make it plausible to think that anyone there regardless of rank, job or where they are deployed be it front lines or in some building in downtown Baghdad on some strictly Bureaucratic job to be in enough risk to treasure what ever opportunities you have to talk to your loved ones.

Grady, I'm amazed that in this case you are not on the side of those men and women fighting for this country who maybe confused about time zones and who have a single moment to let their loved ones know they're ok.

Strange.

My two cents. Sometimes it's ok to break the rules. Cussing, who the hell cares. Some of the best people on this planet have potty mouths. May not be the best thing in all situations, but I'm sure the kid was upset.

And the best people on this planet get a little upset sometimes. It happens. Some school officials want little well behaved emotionless robots on Ritalin. I'm sorry life isn't allways calm and relaxed. Life is full of emotions, some aren't pleasant.

And honestly, I don't care if a person has a potty mouth. If that person is doing good things in this world, and is a contributing member of society, then let him have a potty mouth. Not saying a potty mouth is necessarily a good thing, it's just sometimes not that important to worry about.

Troy

Id like to know some backround...So far, it is ones word against another.

Was the kid a wiseass anyway?...Because if he was a true wiseass, this would have been a golden not to be missed opportunity for entitled confrontation.

Or was the teacher an overzealous punisher ?

If there are no cells alllowed in school, what normal kid wouldnt have alerted the administration of a possible monthly phonecall falling on school time?--Ill tell you who...A kid with an attitude..."well if my mother calls me Im taking that call and noone ones gonna tell me I cant take that call ...Lalalalalala.

for the situation to get that out of hand, someone did something wayyy out of line and there were only 2 people involved here.

I think that there is probably more to this and we it’s not as clear cut as it’s written down, unless it was a combination of a harsh and authoritive teacher and a chronically belligerent and Uncivilized (“RUDE”) child there had to be some character flaw in both if not greatly exaggerated in one of them which would have been the catalyst for such a confrontation for something that even though cell phone where to be illegal given the circumstances and the boy not actually being in class (think these are mutually agreed facts) then I would most people would have made and exception or at least not taken an antagonistic and DO AS I SAY approach. But even if the kid is some kind of spoil, belligerent brat which I think is one of the most vile quality in a person was in a situation which though I would doubt I would let myself personally escalate to such a point but I would blame or judge another too harshly for what his actions, like I said before and lesser person might have slugged her for snatching the phone under those circumstances. I also have a personal bias for phones in school, while I completely agreed with all the reason’s why they are not allowed in school, frankly I find it irresponsible to give cell phones to children and young teens (15 or so and below) during 9/11 the phone lines to school as well as in general where having problems and many shutdown it was virtually impossible to contact schools that morning I heard from both my brother and sister because their friends had snucked in phones to school. Even teachers used those same “contraband” phones to contact their own families and friends check up on them.

Originally posted by curme
So, apparently this type of exchange is ok:

Teacher: Hey, no phones are allowed in school.
Student: [Expletive deleted] you! I'm [Expletive deleted] talking to my [Expletive deleted] Mom in Iraq!
Teacher: Did you say Iraq?
Student: [Expletive deleted] yeah!
Teacher: Oh, ok. Carry on.
Student: [Expletive deleted] you!

Regardless of whether you think soldiers children are above the rules, children must learn that bad behavior isn't rewarded, no matter what the circumstances are.

hahaha

yeah try to have an argument with your high- school-aged self without him/her flipping out and calling you names.

I think you inadvertently explained the problem with your own ignorance, that is people completely ignoring empathy for other humans in the name of "doing their job". Yes that child had to learn something, what he had to learn was that the world was full of people who don't care about him. He also learned that for some people a life is less important than a paycheck.




[edit on 9-5-2005 by benign]

Here is the latest news on the student. The school has shortened his suspension and the student is back in school. His suspension only lasted the 2 days that he has already servered.

Cell-phone student back at school after suspension

Thanks for the link, this is the first time I think we've been exposed to this information:

The school, which is near Fort Benning, often arranges for students to receive calls from parents who are deployed with the military, Phillips said. More than 3,700 students in the district are from military families.

I think everything that can develop about this story has, and I believe that Kevin is probably more to blame than the school. The school seems to be pretty accomodating and adaptive.

Zip

wow, that information sheds a new light on the situation, I did find it strange at first that a school district so close to military centers wouldn't be a bit more sensitive to the needs of military family. This says a whole lot about this kid, It starting to sound like a "I want what I want, and I want it NOW!" situation by this kid.

Originally posted by Zipdot
Thanks for the link, this is the first time I think we've been exposed to this information:

The school, which is near Fort Benning, often arranges for students to receive calls from parents who are deployed with the military, Phillips said. More than 3,700 students in the district are from military families.

I think everything that can develop about this story has, and I believe that Kevin is probably more to blame than the school.

I agree and also find it odd that only one out of 3700 have had problems.

My guess is the other 3699 do not swear at their teachers.

I agree with jehosephat. The moral is so low over there, and this did not help at all I am sure.

I too think that the call should have been verified, and let the poor kid talk to his mother. I mean if he lost his father already, how would they feel IF something did happen to his mother and they did not let him speak to her. Speaking as a soldier's wife, I know when they are overseas they have to call when they get a chance to call, doesn't matter what time it is here.

If they deemed it necessary to punish him, they should have at least done it as an in school suspension so that he could still be doing the work that needed to be done and at least have a chance at finals.

Honestly though, I would have been a little irrational too if I had been in that situation. I would have had to take the suspension. The family time is more important.

---------------------------------------------

I just read some postings after I wrote this, I am glad to see that they did let him back in school. The lik provided to CNN.com on this story did she a new light on the subject. Thanks for the link.




[edit on 10-5-2005 by newm om 04]

Sure. The point is the way the admin handled the incident. Instead of saying something like, "This student has a previous record of excessive belligerancy and we try to be accomodating but in this circumstance we overstepped our bounds because the instructor simply did not believe the student, and we are truly sorry the incident ocurred" they said "In consideration of the mother's feelings we opted for 10 day suspension instead of jail time". THAT cinched it, hello!